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Far be it for me to come to the defence of lawyers, but there are some mitigating circumstances that should be familiar to software developers: * Lots of laws
by RyanMcGreal 14y ago
Far be it for me to come to the defence of lawyers, but there are some mitigating circumstances that should be familiar to software developers:
* Lots of laws look crufty to casual observers, but the reason is that they have been amended again and again and again over the years to accommodate various edge cases.
* Laws are a structured, formal attempt to model human bevaviour, which is messy, fuzzy and unpredictable except at the statistical level. A clear, simple law may not be the best way to govern unclear, complex agents in a complex system.
The temptation to throw out our laws and replace them with something simple and clear is dangerously close to the Second System Syndrome to which well-meaning software developers often fall prey.
- BrokenPipe 14y agoWhen the code gets cranky, its time to refactor. Piling shit on top of it just makes it worst. I'm not talking about NIHS or rewrites, I'm talking about refactoring. And lots of edge cases and special things are not a good thing in law or software I think.
- RyanMcGreal 14y agoI don't disagree with you on the need for careful refactoring of our legal code. In fact, a few years ago I wrote an essay on this very topic: http://quandyfactory.com/blog/30/software_as_a_model_for_government http://quandyfactory.com/blog/30/software_as_a_model_for_gov... I do believe we need to exercise caution, balance and good judgment, and that most of the time, careful refactoring is more prudent and effective than throwing out the existing code and starting from scratch.
- BrokenPipe 14y agoAgreed.